PrioritiesOne important application of our bitachon in Hashem, is in regard to the order in which our responsibilities are pursued. Every person has a myriad of items to complete on any given day, ranging from spiritual to material.

The question is; in which order will they be attended to. Often we may not give attention to the fact that certain items receive precedence over others, and at times the sequence is intentional. In general the bitachon direction will be, that the spiritual items on the to do list will receive priority over other responsibilities.

This was the message of the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe on the posuk of "raishis arisosaichem" - loosely translated as the "first of your dough" - that "arisosaichem" could also mean bed, i.e. that as soon as a person arises in the morning, his time, energy, and clearness of mind should be dedicated to Hashem. Instead of first dealing with other needs prevalent in one's life, including those which our phones present, all of the attention at that point in the day should be directed to davening and the study of Torah.

Only after ample attention had been given to our G-gly responsibilities, may we turn to the mundane aspects of life. The same is vital in life on a more general scale. The earlier and more youthful years of life should dedicated only to Hashem, which is of course the responsibility of parents.

Another application of this concept is when it comes to earnings. It's natural for a person to feel that after working hard they should receive first from the fruit of their labors, but we derive from the above mentioned posuk of "raishis arisosaichem" that then too the first "produce" goes to Hashem. Whether it be through the mitzva of challa in the times of the Beis Hamikdash, or through giving tzedaka these days, the important thing is that the first should go to Hashem. Not only is it crucial that Hashem's part be taken care of, but it must be taken care of first.

One may ask, what difference does the order make, as long as it gets checked off? However, if the spiritual responsibilities are not attended to first, they seem to be viewed as just another task. In truth however they are the most important, even though there can be events in life distracting us from focusing on their importance.

The spiritual tasks are the most important because as Yidden we know that life is from Hashem, and only following His to do list will enhance life, and bring success. Hence, because Hashem's list includes tzedaka, therefore it should be the first on our list and be addressed first. If any other task were to take precedence then Hashem's vital involvement in our lives would not be underlined through our conduct.

This type of conduct is both an offshoot of faith in Hashem, and when heeded helps to assist us with our bitachon when challenges occur thereafter.